Ulrich Schiefer (sociologist)

Ulrich Schiefer (born September 10, 1952 in Lauffen am Neckar ) is a German agricultural and development sociologist and ethnologist . His main interests are development policy and international development cooperation , especially their effects on societies in sub-Saharan Africa .

Career

Ulrich Schiefer studied sociology with Christian Sigrist and Song Du-yul , ethnology with Rüdiger Schott and Ulrich Köhler, sinology with Ulrich Unger and journalism at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster from 1971 . After receiving his master's degree in sociology (1977) on agricultural cooperatives in the People's Republic of China , he worked as a United Nations volunteer in urban and regional planning in Guinea-Bissau . After his return he examined for his doctorate (1984) the development of colonial trade and administrative structures and their transfer to the post-colonial period in Guinea-Bissau.

In 2000 he completed his habilitation in Münster on “Dissipative Economy and Development Cooperation and the Collapse of African Agricultural Societies Using the Example of Guinea-Bissau”. In 2013 he completed his habilitation in sociology at the ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon in Portugal .

From 1986, as research assistant at the Institute for Sociology at the University of Münster, he headed the field research of the project “Agricultural Societies and Rural Development Policy in Guinea-Bissau”, coordinated by Christian Sigrist and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. This was followed by the establishment of a national research center. Basic research on changes in agricultural societies traumatized by the war and post-colonial development models as well as contract research for development agencies formed the starting point for new theoretical and methodological approaches in development policy . He advised several international organizations , especially in the areas of regional development , planning and evaluation , organizational and network development . He carried out field research in Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique , Cape Verde and Angola and supported the introduction of the planning and evaluation methodology he developed in the successor states of the former Soviet Union and in Portugal.

His academic teaching activities focus on development and humanitarian interventions and their effects on the disintegration of African societies and organizational development . From 2002 to 2013 he was a private lecturer at the Institute for Sociology at the University of Münster and in 2014 he was visiting professor at the University of Graz . Since 1993 he has been a professor at the ISCTE (-IUL) in Lisbon with a focus on African studies and organizational development. From 2011 to 2016 he led the master’s course in African Studies and the postgraduate course in organizational development in the public sector. Since 2016 he has been the director of the doctoral course in African Studies.

Scientific achievements

Field research in Africa

As the last countries in Africa that reached Portuguese colonies after a ten-year war of independence , the first through the Carnation Revolution in Portugal was completed in 1974, its state independence . In the conflict between the rival great powers in the Cold War over their spheres of interest in Africa, development aid played an important role alongside military aid . The influx of international development aid, especially to Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, also opened up opportunities for international scientists to conduct social science research into these societies. Forced decolonization led to protracted civil wars in Angola and Mozambique and to a coup in Guinea-Bissau in 1998 , which was followed by a year-long civil war.

Ulrich Schiefer headed various interdisciplinary research projects , including the development potential of African agricultural societies, some of which were severely traumatized by war, and the development strategies of post-colonial states in West Africa , especially in Guinea-Bissau.

The emergence of colonial trade and administrative structures and their continuation after independence formed the background for the continuity of the colonial counter-insurgency strategy in the development planning of the post-colonial state.

In various individual studies on, among other things, crop security, the development of industry and handicrafts , transport , agricultural cooperatives, development cooperation in Portuguese civil society and the effects of structural adjustment measures on the situation of African families , he demonstrated the failure of externally induced development strategies in African agricultural societies. His fundamental criticism of development cooperation states a direct connection between development strategies - including their operational implementation via the project approach - and the collapse of African societies.

Dissipative economy

The development strategies of the last decades have not led to the desired success. Instead, numerous states in sub-Saharan Africa are in an ongoing process of social dissolution. With his predominantly development- sociological work, Schiefer wants to contribute to a theory of social collapse. He asks to what extent international development aid is responsible for the destabilization and collapse of post-colonial states and societies. On the basis of his approximately fifteen years of research, he analyzes this connection using the example of Guinea-Bissau. He traces the socio-political developments and examines the effects of development aid, in particular on agricultural societies.

In view of the obvious failure of both theory and practice of development cooperation, Schiefer developed the term "dissipative economy" based on the choice of words and inspired by the work of Ilya Prigogine .

In the 1970s, chemist Ilya Prigogine explored the theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics . Almost all of the laws of classical physics related to closed equilibrium systems that practically do not occur in reality. He studied open systems that constantly exchange energy or matter with their environment, i.e. that are not in thermodynamic equilibrium . In open systems, structures can develop spontaneously. Their existence depends crucially on the system parameters. Even small variations can destroy the order and the system goes into a chaotic phase . Prigogine created the term dissipative structure for this . Many scientists have now confirmed that this model can be applied to any open system. In 1977 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contribution to the theory of irreversible dissipative structures out of equilibrium.

Schiefer's Dissipative Economics transfers this perspective to development cooperation and humanitarian aid . In doing so, he provides an explanatory approach for the creation and persistence of almost identical organizational landscapes in many, often very different, so-called developing countries.

The development agencies appear as dissipative structures, from the large international and national organizations to the small non-governmental organizations . These work by ensuring a regular flow of development aid. The financing of the internal actors is guaranteed by an external inflow of funds. They ensure their outflow of funds through project financing and the like. These funds flow into a national economic system that is mainly concentrated in the cities . There these are then largely destroyed in an unproductive manner. Schiefer describes this economic sector, which is entirely dependent on an external input , as the dissipative economy.

Meticulous studies show the destructive and often irreversible effects of international development policy, which is mostly based on technology transfer, on agricultural societies. Consequences such as decline in productivity, food crises , rapid urbanization , political instability, forced migrations and violent conflicts form the background for the post-colonial state failure and social disintegration in sub-Saharan Africa.

This approach contributes to the theoretical debate about the collapse of societies. He describes the interactions between the development agencies and the respective national elites and their connection to the internal dynamics of African societies.

Together with Marina Padrão Temudo, he introduced the term resilience to the debate about the disintegration and destruction of African agrarian societies. They examined their resilience in times of crisis, in particular their ability to take in war refugees over longer periods of time . In doing so, they showed an alternative to the establishment of refugee camps , which are often breeding grounds for further violence and social destruction.

Since 2008 he and Ana Larcher Carvalho have been conducting research on the relationship between development policy, migration and food security . In 2015 he began researching communication in and with African agricultural societies.

Integrated planning and evaluation of projects (MAPA)

Schiefer developed an integrated planning and evaluation system for development and social intervention projects, "MAPA" (Method for Applied Planning and Assessment). MAPA has been published in four languages and is used in many countries. This system, based on a participatory approach, enables the operational integration of evaluation and planning and represents a response to the project cycle management criticized by Schiefer .

Fonts (selection)

Integrated Evaluation of Change. A new perspective for planning and evaluation in multiple intervention environments . Periploi, Lisboa 2008, ISBN 978-989-8079-06-0 .
with others: Facilitação - Gestão de Processos Participativos . Principia, Cascais 2006, ISBN 972-8818-65-3 .
with others: MAPA - Manual de Planeamento e Avaliação de Projectos . Principia, Cascais 2006, ISBN 972-8818-58-0 .
Forsaken by all good spirits? Guinea Bissau: Development Policy and the Collapse of African Societies . IAK, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-928049-83-6 .
with Reinald chub: ПРОЕКТ МППА, Практическое руководство по Комплексному Проекту Планирования и Оценки, Авторы: Ульрих Шифер, Раиналд Дёбель, При содействии Лючинии Бал, еревод Татьяны Терещенко. 2002.
with Reinald Döbel: Projekti MAPA Udhezues Praktik per planifikimin dhe vleresimin e integrated projectit . KES / FKSHC, Prishtine 2001, ISBN 963-7316-97-3 .
with Reinald Döbel: MAPA - Project. A Practical Guide to Integrated Project Planning and Evaluation . OSI-IEP Publications, Budapest 2001, ISBN 963-7316-96-5 .
with others: A Cooperação da Sociedade Civil Portuguesa na Área da Solidariedade Social, CEA-ISCTE + Ministério de Solidariedade e Segurança Social (2 vols.) . Lisboa, 179 + 218 p.
with Olavo Borges de Oliveira and Philip J. Havik: Armazenamento tradicional na Guiné-Bissau. Produtos, sementes e celeiros utilizados pelas etnias na Guiné-Bissau: Fascículo 1, Beafada; Fascículo 2, Mandinga; Fascículo 3, Nalu; Fasciculo 4, Balante; Fascículo 5, Fula de Quebo . Bissau - Lisboa - IFS, Münster 1996. [Food Security and Compound Storage in Guinea-Bissau]. ISSN 0939-284X
Guiné-Bissau between global economy and subsistence - transatlantic-oriented structures on the upper Guiné coast . ISSA, Bonn 1986, ISBN 3-921614-56-2